Econ professor to receive Jewel of India award

January 17, 2013

An Emporia State University economics professor and native of India will receive the 2013 Hind Rattan — or Jewel of India — award later this month.

Dr. Kalyan Chakraborty will receive the award on Jan. 25, the eve of Republic Day, at the 32nd International Congress of NRIs sponsored by the NRI (Non-Resident Indians) Welfare Society of India. Dr. Manmohan Singh, prime minister of India, will present the 2013 award, which honors the outstanding contribution, services, achievements and accomplishments of Chakraborty in keeping the flag of India high in the world.

Chakraborty, who has taught in Emporia State University’s School of Business since 2000, earned multiple degrees and worked in India before coming to the United States in the early 1990s to pursue higher education.

Now a U.S. citizen, Chakraborty earned degrees in economics, marketing and sales management, law and business management from Indian universities. From 1978 to 1991, he worked as a sales account executive for the eastern division of Coal India Limited, a Government of India Enterprise, in Kolkata, India.

Chakraborty earned a master’s degree in resource and recreational economics from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1994, and a doctorate in economics from Utah State University in 1998.

During his career, he has taught at the International Institute for Management Science in India, Friends University in Wichita and HKBU-BNU United International College in Zhuhai, China.

Chakraborty’s love of education was instilled by his mother, a teacher for more than 40 years at a small private elementary school. To honor her, Chakraborty established the Anupama Devi Scholarship Fund, which awards five scholarships to fourth-grade students at the school. Chakraborty and his wife, Yan, also established the Kal-Yan Foundation for Academic Excellence, which awards six scholarships to students at the small village high school Chakraborty attended. The Kal-Yan scholarships include three for science and three in arts or commerce given to 11th-grade students. December 2013 will mark the 10th year the scholarships have been given.

Throughout his career, Chakraborty, who specializes in applied microeconomics, applied econometrics, international and regional economics and resource and recreational economics, has researched economic issues of both the United States and India, including looking at the non-life insurance industry in India as recently as last year.

He has delivered keynote speeches to several academic institutions and universities in India during the last decade and currently is an external doctoral dissertation advisor for several government universities in India.

Chakraborty is an avid badminton player and will represent Kansas in July 2013 at the U.S. Senior Olympics in Cleveland, Ohio, in men’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles in his age group.

Emporia State University is a dynamic and progressive student-centered learning community that fosters student success through engagement in academic excellence, community and global involvement, and the pursuit of personal and professional fulfillment.